Unexpected
by rekahneko
Summary: Sirius and James pay Remus a surprise visit over the summer. Remus isn't pleased. A bit angsty, Slash RLSB
1. Chapter 1

Warnings: Slash - if you don't like it, don't read it. If you don't know what it is, don't read it. Rated for drinking, swearing, and a vague sort of sexiness. SB/RL

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Heck, I don't even own my own sofa.

Notes: Notes: Thanks to my brilliant beta Oony! I am trying for a bit of a different style than what I have already posted. Helpful hints would be… well… helpful. Thanks!

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Remus' Summer

by Rekahneko

Chapter 1 of 2

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"The man at the store said the house was over here somewhere, Sirius; I am sure it isn't too far now."

"Remind me again why we didn't just floo over?"

"Because this is supposed to be an adventure. You know, two best friends roughing it, traveling the world, seeing where the road takes us."

"Okay how about reminding me why I am friends with you again?"

"Ha, ha. You just have no stamina. Wait until I tell your fan club at Hogwarts!" James ignored the glare from his friend. "Anyhow, I think I see the house beyond those trees."

"Well, at least I'll be able to see Moony. I haven't seen anybody else this entire vacation, and you're driving me up a wall!"

They trudged a bit farther in the hot sun before James spoke again. "It's going to be such a great surprise, us showing up on his doorstep. I haven't been to his house in two years."

"Are you sure his mom won't mind us just showing up?"

"It will be fine. If we tell her that we plan on staying in town, she will almost certainly invite us to stay at the house instead, and if she doesn't, well, we just find a place nearby. But I'm sure it will be all right."

The two boys walked down the dusty country lane, approaching the Lupin house. The orchard around the house hung heavy with fruit and the flower garden burst with color.

A figure was crouched down next to a large line of plants in a part of the garden that looked like a vegetable patch.

"Mrs. Lupin!" James hailed Remus' mother, beaming happily at her from across the lawn.

The older woman rose from her perusal of the vegetables and, after studying the two boys for a moment, said, "James? Sirius?" She smiled as they walked up to her spot in the yard.

"Hi, Mrs. Lupin, James and I were just passing by," Sirius ignored an elbow from his friend, "and thought we would stop in and say hello to Remus. Is he around?"

"Remus is about somewhere. He might be in town at the bookstore or the library," she said vaguely as she paused to wipe her forehead with the back of her hand. "Will you be staying in town for a while? If so, you are always welcome to stay with us of course; there is plenty of room."

"We would love to stay for a few days if that doesn't put you out too much. James and I are traveling the country this summer, backpacking and visiting friends and family."

Sirius paused and gave Mrs. Lupin his most charming smile. "Actually we stopped at both the library and the bookstore and even the café on the corner when we passed through town and we didn't see him."

"Well, maybe Remus is somewhere with those local friends of his. He keeps busy, but I saw him a few days ago. He mentioned going to the boat docks once or twice so perhaps if you checked there… I can never keep up with you teenagers and whatever it is you all do." She shrugged, gave a distant smile and went back to her garden.

"Thanks! We will go find him then. See you later, Mrs. Lupin."

The two black haired boys turned and started back to town. As they left earshot, James turned to his friend. "I wish my mom was more like Remus' mother and didn't worry about where I was going all the time. She lets him do whatever he wants. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to get Mom to let me take this trip?"

"Yes, I do since I was right there at the time. I live with you now, remember?" Sirius knocked on his friend's head, clearly looking to see if anyone was home.

"Funny. I guess Moony finally made some friends around here. I wonder if they are muggle or wizarding."

Sirius scowled. "Remus never says anything about his home life and he certainly didn't mention any friends. He never mentions anything. That is one of the reasons I wanted to visit. I wasn't able to before, remember? I was stuck at 12 Grimmauld all summer when you were here last."

"I remember, Sirius. But it isn't like you are so forthcoming about your own summers or anything."

"Hey! I am now that I live with you. It's just that Moony is always so quiet and proper and I picture him sitting alone in the library all summer, occasionally leaving for tea and a bit of chocolate."

James grinned at the image. "Yeah, I could see that. But obviously he has found a few people to hang out with so he must not be completely miserable or anything."

"Yeah, I guess not." Sirius didn't look particularly pleased at the thought that the quietest Marauder might have other friends. "They better be nice to him though. You know how he can get. He is much too nice and way too polite. People are bound to take advantage."

"I am sure he's fine, Sirius. And stop being so overprotective. You act like his mother sometimes, I swear."

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"I think I see some people over there by that building next to the lake. Let's go look."

"Prongs! Let's use the invisibility cloak." Sirius brightened at the idea of skulking around while his friend sighed. "Don't look at me like that, it will be fun. We can sneak up and scare Moony or something, I dunno. If he isn't there we can throw a dungbomb and see how the muggles react. Assuming they are muggles. How can we tell?"

"Wizards will have wands, Sirius." James rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but if they are wizards around muggles, maybe they hide their wands. Remember that one muggle looking guy we ran into last week? The one who yelled at us for acting too wizard…ish in front of muggles? There was no way I would have suspected him to be a wizard."

"Whatever, Sirius, let's just get the cloak out already." James sighed his annoyance while Sirius smirked at getting his way.

They ducked around a tree, enlarged and then searched through their bags.

"Isn't it great that we can finally do magic now that we are over 17? Even if we have to hide it when we are muggling around."

"Muggling? Did you just invent another word, Padfoot?"

"You know you love it. Come on. Hurry up with the cloak so we can find Remus, okay? I am starting to get hungry."

"You are always hungry. Here it is, just let me shrink our packs again."

The two boys peered around to make sure they were alone before shrinking their large backpacks and hiding under the cloak. They carefully made their way toward the tiny dots against the building, one of whom may or may not be their missing friend.

ooooooooooooooo

Remus Lupin was having a bad day. The next full moon was 2 weeks away and he was completely recovered from the last one so there was no excuse on that front. The last time he had actually seen them around the house, his family had been perfectly pleasant in their normal distant way. Though Remus had his usual frustration at their apathetic response when it came to anything to do with their only son, they weren't the problem either. He just had this creeping sensation that something was going to happen today that he wasn't going to enjoy it at all.

"Maybe I shouldn't have stayed out so late last night," Remus said quietly to himself, shifting slightly as he leaned against the wall of a large white building with peeling paint.

"Thought it was fun." The boy next to him turned bleary eyes in Remus' direction. His faded black t-shirt screamed death threats at anyone who could read, and, though the dyed black hair and chains on his clothes gave off a rather intimidating look, it was completely belied by the vacant look in his eyes.

"Whatever. Hand me a smoke, I'm out." Remus grimaced, recalling how earlier, he had brilliantly knocked his last pack of cigarettes into the lake. It was just one of those days it seemed.

"Get your own, Lupin."

"No, you owe me, hand them over, you git." Remus glared.

When none were forthcoming, Remus turned to the girl slumped on the ground next to them. "Sarah?"

"Sorry. You want something to drink instead?" The plump girl waved a mostly full bottle at him.

"Isn't it a little early?" Remus eyed the girl critically, noting her shrug. He thought for a moment. "Fine then. Thanks."

Remus took a long drink, screwing up his face in distaste as the powerful alcohol burned his throat. "This stuff is shit straight." He gazed morosely at the liquid as he swirled it around inside the bottle for a moment. After another large swig, he held the bottle out to her.

She nodded absently as she took the bottle back.

"This day sucks. I am bored and annoyed and damn it, Daniel, I really need a cigarette." The blond moved to stand, hands fisted on his hips, in front of the glassy-eyed, dark haired boy.

"Fuck you, Remus," his friend replied, without too much vehemence.

Suddenly, Remus' hands shot out, catching both of the boy's wrists and locking them against the wall. "Really?" Remus suggested, leaning in close, eyes narrowed. "Promise?"

"Get a room you two," said the bored girl from the ground. "Or at least move a little so I can get a better view."

"What will you give me to make a show of it?" Remus smirked down at the girl and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as he pressed up against the other boy.

She pretended to consider for a moment. "Not worth it." She laughed at his mock offended expression. "Especially since I can get a free show tonight when you get trashed at the pub."

Remus snickered his agreement while the black haired boy smiled vaguely, looking a bit confused but generally unconcerned over the exchange.

ooooooooooooooo

The two boys under the invisibility cloak shook off their shock and, in silent agreement, started moving away from the group they had been observing.

"Maybe he has a twin brother we don't know about," Sirius whispered.

"I don't think so."

"A cousin?"

"Let's just go back to town and get some lunch, all right?"

ooooooooooooooo

A year ago, Remus felt like the end of fifth year at Hogwarts couldn't have come fast enough. After the Whomping Willow incident, he had spent a lot of time re-evaluating his friends, his goals, his life. Remus found himself with a lot of anger and no outlet, especially since he wasn't on particularly comfortable terms with James and Peter and he wasn't talking at all to Sirius.

That is how he was feeling the first day of summer vacation when he had wandered aimlessly around town, thinking. He had looked for a distraction, some way to vent. What he found was a group of misfit teenagers willing to include him without question. They didn't ask too many questions and they weren't at all picky about how anyone behaved or what anyone did with their time. Remus couldn't say they were friends exactly, they just helped stave off the boredom. They were a perfect way to pass the summer for an angry, frustrated teenager.

Remus managed not to pick up any habits that were too difficult to drop when school swung around again in the autumn, and no one had noticed anything different about him. He was pleased about that but also a tad bitter because, when it came to him, no one ever looked too hard under the surface. Maybe he was just too difficult to read or too secretive, but it was aggravating that within a minute of seeing James, he could tell if the boy had been recently rejected by Lily or not. Remus knew exactly when Sirius had been talking to his brother or received another letter from his family, and he knew when Peter was feeling excluded or offended by his friends.

What did his friends really know about him? They knew he was a werewolf, and they accepted that. Remus appreciated it, he really did. Yet, sometimes, it was as if that was it for them. As if he had a role to fill as Nerdy Werewolf Friend and they didn't even know it didn't really fit him as well as it might. Though he missed his real friends, he was relieved to be back with the summer crowd, just because he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, without feeling like he had to fit into a particular mold.

Remus had finished up sixth year with his usual high grades but without nearly as much anger as he had at the end of fifth year. Instead, he was annoyed and bored but happy once again to be away from the stifling nature of the social scene that was Hogwarts. He didn't know what his friends would make of his summer situation and at this point, he wasn't really interested in finding out. Not that they ever asked, really.


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings: Slash like the wind! SB/RL

Disclaimer: I own nothing but an '85 Chevy station wagon that won't start.

Notes: Thanks to my beta, Oony, who writes amazing Remus and Sirius stories. Also, this chapter is dedicated to Scision, who is miraculously able to read and review 30 seconds after I post. Amazing!

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Unexpected

by Rekahneko

Chapter 2 of 2

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Sirius and James snaked their way through thick groups of people in the dark pub.

"Do you see him?"

"Not yet. Wait, I think that is him." James pointed over to one of the booths where two young men were kissing roughly.

"Hey Remus!" James' voice carried across the crowd.

Remus jumped up off his seat. In doing so, he dislodged a boy with dyed black hair who had been sitting on his lap. The boy landed on the pub floor with a loud 'thunk' but Remus barely spared him a glance before redirecting his attention to his friends from school.

"Err, hi guys. What are you doing here?" Remus' voice was a bit strangled and he ran his hand through his hair uneasily.

"We thought we would stop by for a surprise visit." James smiled broadly at his friend's discomfort, thinking it all an amusing joke for his own benefit.

"Yes, well. You really nailed the surprise part," Remus muttered, almost to himself.

Sirius just glared, noticing a bit of blood where his friend's lower lip had split.

"So, um, why don't we find a table or something," Remus suggested, nervously twining his fingers together.

"What about your friends?" Sirius said with an edge to his voice as he finally joined the conversation.

"Right. An introduction. Okay." Remus was clearly uncomfortable with the thought of the two groups of friends intermingling. He pointed at each person in turn. "Sirius, James, Sarah, Robert, and Daniel." At the last name, he motioned to the floor and wrinkled his nose with a slightly disgusted face at the boy still sitting there, looking confused, in the midst of peanut shells and spilt beer.

"Great! Now let's go get a table." Remus dragged his two school friends away without further comment to his previous tablemates who didn't seem particularly bothered. He pulled Sirius and James over to the farthest corner of the pub.

As they settled at the table, there was a brief, awkward pause as Remus tried to think of something to say, James grinned maniacally, and Sirius glowered.

"So, what made you decide to show up for an unannounced visit," Remus finally said, trying to sound more interested than accusing.

"Well Moony, we decided to travel this summer. It took a while to get my Mom to agree, but heck, we are seventeen and ready to be on our own, right? So Sirius and I got these really cool bottomless backpacks, well, of course they aren't really truly bottomless…"

While James continued waxing poetic about the summer so far, Remus sneaked a peak at Sirius. Yes, he was still glaring, obviously upset.

_I wonder what he is so ticked about this time. And Sarah says I am moody. But wow, he looks good with a tan. Come on, Remus, don't stare._

"Remus?"

"Oh I agree," he replied, having no idea what it was that James had been saying.

James smiled at him, delighted. "I am glad you think it's fine that we put off all our school work until the end of the vacation. That is so unlike you to agree! Finally you are coming around to our point of view. Sirius and I have had a good influence on you, right, Pads?" He elbowed Sirius in the ribs.

"Yeah, whatever." Sirius scowled at the tabletop.

Remus coughed, feeling awkward again. "You want me to get us a few beers or something?" he said weakly, hoping for an excuse to leave the table for a moment and get his bearings.

"No worries, Rem, I got it!" The tense atmosphere had made James uncomfortable enough to test his newly acquired and slightly dubious skills with muggle money.

Sighing, Remus watched James wind his way through the milling crowd to the bar. This day was just not going well.

"So, Sirius, how is the trip so far?" He turned to his friend, hoping for a calm, neutral conversation.

"Shit, Remus, what the hell?" Obviously Remus was out of luck.

"What do you mean?" Remus flinched inwardly while working to keep his expression blank.

"What the hell are you doing with these people? What is wrong with you? Are you like this every summer? How come you never told us about your friends?" Sirius' voice was laced with acid.

Remus winced at the tone and then frowned. "These are just people I hang around with, not really friends or anything..." His cautious tone didn't go over well by the expression on his friend's face.

"They are a bunch of losers and you are acting all different. This isn't you at all!"

Remus looked down to notice his fists clenched. He took a deep breath before answering coolly, "They aren't so bad. They keep me from dying of boredom all summer. And how exactly would you know how I am acting? You guys just arrived." Remus raised an eyebrow, trying to stay calm and collected.

"You are different, don't deny it. I don't like it. And what is up with you and that guy? You were all over each other."

A low growl escaped before Remus could stop it. "Leave it alone, Sirius. Are you going to turn all sanctimonious on me all of a sudden? Like you have never seen two guys together or something? Like you didn't mess around with that 7th year Huffelpuff guy last year? Out of everyone, I always thought you would be the one to understand a bit of harmless fun."

"That's not it at all, Remus," said Sirius, looking like that was, in fact, it.

"So what is the problem then? The drinking? Are you forgetting that you and James got trashed at least once a month last year? Don't tell me you are upset at me for drinking a bit. Cigarettes? What?"

Sirius didn't say anything, instead he intently traced the grain of the wood table.

"Then what the hell is it? Gods, why are you always so difficult."

James arrived with a pitcher of beer and several glasses, interrupting the tense silence with a story about how the barmaid reminded him of his one true love, Lily. They had heard it all before since just about everything reminded James of Lily.

After an uncomfortable hour or two of strained conversation between Remus and Sirius, interspersed with long winded tales from James, the three boys made their way back to the Lupin house. They settled on the newly transfigured beds that had somehow been squeezed into the small bedroom that belonged to Remus.

As usual, James fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow while the other two Marauders tossed and turned.

Finally, Sirius interrupted the silence, "Listen Moony, I am sorry I was such a brat today. I was just surprised, that's all."

"Not unexpected, I guess." Remus shrugged into the darkness and sighed.

There was a long pause before Sirius spoke again. "Why do you hang out with those people, Remus?"

Remus thought a moment before answering. "Here, with them, I can do anything I want."

"And this is what you want, Remus? Merlin! What the hell is wrong with you?" Sirius looked away from his friend, trying unsuccessfully to hide his frustration and confusion.

"Sirius, you don't know what it is like to be held up to an impossible standard." Instead of the angry tone he had used earlier, Remus' voice was quiet and imploring.

"You and James get to fly by, pulling wonderful grades out of your ass at the last minute, charming your way out of detention. Everyone looks at me and expects a model student and perfect behavior. I can't let anyone point to anything I do and say, 'See? I knew we shouldn't have let a werewolf into Hogwarts.'"

Sirius looked up in surprise.

"I have all the hopes of the werewolf community pinned on my performance, whether they know it or not. Dumbledore put his job on the line to have me at Hogwarts, you know. Nothing less than flawless will do. I don't suppose you have any idea what I feel like I risk every time I help with a prank." Remus peered sideways at his friend, trying to judge his reaction.

"But that's not fair! You shouldn't have to live up to all of that. You shouldn't have to be like anything other than yourself."

"No, I shouldn't. It sucks." Remus curled up in a ball, hugging his pillow to his chest. His eyes closed and he took a deep breath before continuing. "You know, I have always been a bit jealous of you."

Sirius widened his eyes, tipping his head to the side in inquiry.

"You had a lot of ridiculous expectations on you too, but you were able to leave them behind when you left your family. I can't get away from being a werewolf, ever."

Remus continued. "But these people I hang around with, they don't care about expectations or any of that. Actually, they don't care about anything at all really. I admit to using them to do a fair bit of venting during the last two summers. It helps."

"Oh." Sirius mused silently for a while. "So, does this mean you aren't really the person I always thought you were?"

"I suppose that all depends on who you assumed I was." Remus' voice held a thoughtful note.

"Well, I thought you were shy, quiet, conservative." Sirius mentally added, 'Nice, boring, straight.'

"Shy? I don't know about that, Pads. People are not always worth the trouble, especially when you have secrets like mine. I suppose I am quiet most of the time, truly an introvert. And you should know I'm not as rule bound as everyone else at school seems to think. I help enough with the pranking for you to have figured that out at least."

Sirius pulled at the edge of his blanket. He started to speak, hesitated, and then started again. "You weren't very nice to that one guy at the pub. I haven't ever seen you be less than careful with someone else's feelings like that." Sirius spoke softly as if to lessen the critical nature of the comment.

Remus didn't seem to mind. "True, I wasn't very nice." He shrugged into the darkness. "I don't really care. None of us are particularly nice to each other. No one is bothered about it and things are better that way."

"But if he is your boyfriend, don't you, well, I mean, don't you _like_ him?"

"Oh, he isn't my boyfriend. He is just some guy to help pass the time; a stand-in for someone I might want to have a real relationship with." Remus carefully did not look at Sirius while he said those words. "I don't really like him much at all to tell the truth. Dan has done so many drugs his mind is in a constant haze. Don't feel too bad for him, Sirius. As soon as I am gone, he will be in someone else's bed."

"It just doesn't seem very nice."

"What about Susan Jones?"

"What about her," Sirius said, warily.

"How is my lack of a relationship with Dan any different then what you didn't have with Susan last year?"

"It just is."

"Right. Sirius, you are such an ass sometimes."

"It's just that, well, it's just not _you_, Remus. The 'you' that I thought I knew anyway."

"And what do you think about this 'me' that you felt like you knew so well?"

"You were, I mean are, my friend! A great person!"

"What do you _really_ think, Sirius? You know what I believe? I believe you think of me as an uptight, straight-laced, pushover. You and James forget I am around half the time unless you need a copy of the class notes or help with your homework because you left it until the last minute."

"That's not fair!"

"Isn't it? Well, in the last few years it certainly seems like that is what you think of me, when you bother to think of me at all." Remus sighed. "I am probably just being over dramatic."

Rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache, Remus continued. "Listen, don't worry about it. Things will be back to normal when we get to Hogwarts, okay, Sirius?"

There was a long silence.

"It's not true, you know."

"What isn't true, Pads?"

"We do think of you. I do. A lot. All the time. I just always thought you were untouchable, perfect. It was like you never made a mistake, never did anything wrong. And now… I just don't know what to think."

"Why do you have to think anything in particular?"

"I'm not James, you know. He can just accept anything that is thrown at him, grin, and move on. To be honest, seeing you here this summer is shaking my foundations." Sirius sent a rueful smile over at the boy on the next bed over.

"Well, you could have owled before arriving and things never would have changed."

"When I do ever plan ahead? And it's good that I know more about you, right? Even if it isn't something I… Something I might have figured out on my own."

"You were going to say 'even if it isn't something I like,' weren't you? I really am sorry for destroying the image you had of your 'Perfect Prefect.' I hope you didn't find out too many things about me that you don't like."

There was no response as Sirius seemed to be thinking over the conversation so far.

"You know," he said finally, "I think that doing what you want to do is more important than living up to some image that you feel like people expect of you."

"You believe my pitiful excuse for a social life is more important than the future of the werewolf community? Than Dumbledore's job?"

Sirius shook his head, "No, that's not what I am trying to say."

"Listen Moony, I will make you a deal. You come with James and me sometimes when we are being a little wild during the school year and I will make sure it never gets back to anyone. Your reputation will stay intact, okay? Nothing will be ruined or changed, I promise."

Remus wondered. Maybe his friends' arrival hadn't been such a bad thing after all. Perhaps he was giving in too quickly, but he was so tired of pretending, hiding. "All right Padfoot, but I will be taking you up on your promise. If I get into trouble beyond a few detentions, you are so dead."

Sirius grinned back. "I have to admit that I've gotten used to you sitting high up there on that pedestal. But it might be much more interesting now that you are down here with the rest of us…"

Moving over a bit to where his own bed touched Remus', Sirius leaned closer. "Remus, I have a very important question for you."

"What is it, Sirius?"

"Do you have a thing for black haired guys?" His mischievous smile was a welcome change from his earlier bout of dour moodiness.

Remus sent a considering glance over to his classmate. "Perhaps," he equivocated.

He was rewarded with a wide smile. "Excellent."

Sirius brought his hand up the other boy's face and caressed his cheek. As Remus' eyes widened, he let his thumb run across the slightly parted lips before closing in with his own mouth.

The two pulled apart after only a few breathless moments, Remus still looking a bit surprised and Sirius smiling smugly.

"What about James?" The werewolf chewed on his lip, glancing to Sirius and then to their slumbering roommate.

"Don't worry, you know how he sleeps like a rock, and anyhow, Prongs is at least three feet away from us."

At Remus' skeptical look, Sirius flashed a wicked grin and pulled him closer.


End file.
